Category: STEAM

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The NSF Game Maker Awards: A Unique Opportunity

As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, NSF has launched the Game Maker Awards, a competition designed to inspire K-12 students to envision “Life in 2100” through video game design. This initiative is a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase their creativity, technical skills, and innovative thinking.

About the Challenge

The NSF Game Maker Awards aim to make STEM subjects engaging and accessible. By encouraging students to imagine the future, the competition highlights the role of science and technology in shaping our world. Students aged 5-18 who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents can enter the competition. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2025, at 5 p.m. EST. Participants can win up to $8,500 in various prize categories, including Best Educational Game, Best STEM Discovery, and Best Art and Design1.

Why Participate?

Participating in the NSF Game Maker Awards offers students a unique opportunity to gain recognition, win prizes, and connect with other innovators and industry leaders in gaming. It’s a fantastic way to explore the fascinating world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while having fun and being creative1.

Benefits for Students

Participating in the NSF Game Maker Awards offers numerous benefits:

  • Skill Development: Students will enhance their coding, design, and problem-solving skills.
  • Creativity and Innovation: The competition encourages students to think creatively about the future and how science and technology can shape it.
  • Recognition and Prizes: Winners will gain recognition and valuable prizes, boosting their confidence and motivation.

What is the NSF?

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency established in 1950 to promote the progress of science, advance national health, prosperity, and welfare, and secure national defense. NSF supports fundamental research and education in all non-medical fields of science and engineering, playing a crucial role in fostering innovation and discovery across the United States.

Why NSF Matters

NSF’s mission is to ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation. By funding research and educational initiatives, NSF helps to cultivate the next generation of scientists, engineers, and educators. This support is vital for maintaining the country’s competitive edge in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

I have served on NSF review boards and received prestigious awards and funding from NSF throughout my scientific career. They are a significant driving force for science in the United States of America, and it would be an incredible achievement for any student to be honored for their accomplishments by NSF!

How STEAMwhiz Can Help

At STEAMwhiz, we are dedicated to preparing students for the future through our comprehensive project-based STEM curricula. Our STEAM Enrichment Program (SEP) theme this year is GAMING and is specifically designed to support students in developing the skills needed for the NSF Game Maker Awards.

Program Highlights

STEAM Enrichment Program (SEP)

Join Us!

We encourage all parents to sign up their children for the NSF Game Maker Awards. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. If you want to join one of our teams, our dedicated staff will prepare students and create teams to participate in the NSF Game Maker Awards, providing them with the skills and support they need to succeed. For more information about our programs, click the button below.

STEAMwhiz Programs – Learn More
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April Newsletter 2024

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring! Check out the news for this month

  • Last week of Summer Camp Sale
  • We have Officially Moved!
    • New Location
    • Renovations
  • Bigger and Better Things Ahead…
    • Robotics Competitions this year
    • Open lab hours
    • Once a month STEM program
    • Robotics Enrichment program

Last Week of Summer Camp Sale

It’s been a crazy busy 2024 🤪 If you haven’t found the time to sign up or have some questions, reach out to us ASAP so we can get you all signed up before the discount ends.

Summer Camp Enrollment

We have Officially Moved!

All Classes at the New SW HQ

All classes going forward will be held at our new HQ. The remainder of the Spring Session 2024, all Summer Camps 2024, and all our offerings going forward will be held at 1 Charles Blvd, Guilderland, NY 12084 🥳

Renovations

We met with our renovation team, and they will be able to work around us while we are there! We won’t see anyone, but please pardon our mess while the space is being updated. Below, you can see the final plan for the new HQ. New floors, new paint, windows, and walls removed are all part of the reno. It should be all done in time for summer 🔥Some awesome additions will be our dedicated VeX Robotics Arena for e-sport competitions, Virtual Reality, dedicated art/creative space, dedicated workshop/maker space, and Movement-based gaming to have them move their bodies and have fun during breaks!

Bigger and Better Things Ahead

The new SW HQ is going to allow us to offer more amazing opportunities for our local students. We will be providing more details over the coming months, but we wanted to highlight a few ideas 🤓

  • VeX Robotics Competition Program – The new space will allow us to support a VeX Robotics Competition Program. This is a prestigious, competitive e-sport event sponsored by top science & tech companies in the US. It provides many of the benefits of competitive sports while also developing the critical career skills needed in an AI future, such as academic resilience, analytical thinking, and logical reasoning. Learn more about the SW VeX Competition Program and our first orientation on May 3rd here.
  • Open Lab Hours & Bussing 🚌 – Thus far, our STEM Enrichment Program (SEP) has been a teacher-driven weekly, 1.15-guided lab. Each year, we develop a new technical curriculum based on a STEAM (Sci-Tech Eng Art Math) theme to expose students to new ideas, challenge them to develop grit, and learn a growth mindset through hands-on project-based learning. We are working towards student-driven open lab hours starting in the Fall for kids enrolled in our enrichment programs. Students can be dropped off at the lab for 1-2 hours a day, have access to all our lab resources, and continue working on their projects, robotics, and other STEM activities. We are in talks with our local school districts to have students bussed 🚌 directly to SW HQ😃 If you are interested, contact us right away!
  • Monthly STEM Enrichment Program (SEP)  – We want to make our programs more accessible to our families who really want to join but have distance and time constraints. Our new HQ will allow us to offer our amazing SEP monthly for 3 hours, most likely on Saturdays, starting this Fall 🙌Each semester, students will get a total of 12 hours to work on our incredible project-based curriculum, which goes way beyond any standards in the US education system. Our Weekly SEP will be the preferred option for our local families as it will offer more hours, flexible scheduling, and the option for Drop-In Open Lab Hours.   
  • Robotics Enrichment Program (REP) – This Fall, we will launch our first-ever REP. The REP will focus on using Lego Robotics to teach students the fundamentals of robotics. Each semester, we will focus on a new robot build and have some fun & friendly competitions 🔥This will be a great way to introduce students to the world of robotics. This is an excellent complement to our STEAM Enrichment Program (SEP): The SEP is breath-focused, connecting interdisciplinary cross-domain knowledge to develop creative problem-solving skills critical for careers in an AI job landscape, while REP will be more depth-focused for those engineers who love robotics and want to build!
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STEAMwhiz VeX IQ Robotics Competition Orientation

We are holding an in-person orientation for STEAMwhiz VeX IQ Robotic Teams on Friday evening, May 3rd 🥳 It’s a fantastic opportunity for students going into 4-8 grade to dive into the world of robotics! It’s a big commitment, so pls take a look at the slides. If interested, use the link below to fill out the form. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section.

For our younger students who are interested in robotics, we are planning a Robotics Enrichment Program (REP) for this Fall that will prepare them for Vex Robotics Competitions once they enter 4th grade. More info coming soon!!

Orientation Sign-up Form

https://forms.office.com/r/AunmH5NiPe?origin=lprLink

(Will send meeting details via email)

SLIDES

Parents learn more about VeX at there website here

This was last year’s competition, which is currently in the World Finals!

We volunteered at the VeX State Finals this year in Queensbury NY. This was an awesome all-girls local team that did really well 🔥🚀

https://fb.watch/rB3UYm8rlS

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STEAMwhiz Camp News Edition 2024

We are moving! Plus Join Us at VEX Robotics, Spring Break and Summer Camps and more. It’s a dense Newsletter this month, so feel free to use the links below for navigate 

We’re Moving 🥳 | Meet us @VEX Robotics THIS Saturday |  Spring Break Camp – Candy CodeBots | Minecraft SciTech Summer Camp | STEAMwhiz at your school | Newsletter SignUp | Events Calendar   

We are moving

Can I get an Upgrade ✨

Thank you 💟

We launched STEAMwhiz in Fall of 2020 to provide more opportunities for our local students to prepare for an AI 🤖 future. We have been able to introduce our advance STEM curricula that we have designed specifically to intercept students EARLY (6-13 yrs old) using project-based learning to students from all over the Capital District NY. It is through our communities support that we have had the privilege to serve and now we will expand The STEM Learning Lab to new heights 🚀
 

Amazing Location 🏢

We’ve been working with Paul and Jonathan at Hoffman Real Estate Developers and signed our lease. They have been great, and renovations are underway! We are looking forward to our partnership as we continue to grow into the future. We hope to have a test run at the new lab for Spring Break Camps and then officially move in by Summer. Our new HQ will be located at 1 Charles Blvd, Guilderland NY in Charles Park. Hopefully, you will see our STEAMwhiz Logo going up off new Karner Rd over the coming weeks as Russ Sr from Ray Signs out of Schenectady begins 🥳

What does this mean 🤔

We hope this will allow us to better serve all our families who have been on our wait-lists. You might see Technical Director Dr J & Program Director Allie teaching labs a bit more while we are in transition. We also have been listening to our parents, and we will offer even more options for our students, including two major opportunities


Open Lab Hours
Students enrolled in our Semester Labs will have the opportunity to continue growing after our teaching labs. Our equipment and tools will have open lab hours where enrolled students can be dropped off after school and continue working on their projects 🛠️

Robotics Competitions
We will be forming local teams to compete at local, state, and national levels via VEX Robotics Competitions 🔥Dr J will offer Robotics Labs starting this Fall; teach the fundamentals of Robotics & Mechanical Engineering to prepare students for competition starting in January 2025. If you are interested, contact us so we can plan accordingly⚙️

 
Stay Tuned!!!

This Saturday
March 9th | 9am - 3pm

Join us @ NY Vex Robotics State Tournament

 

Join Us This Sat March 9 @Queensbury High School

Come join us this Saturday, March 9th at @Queensbury High School for an exciting robotics competition! Watch as 4th to 12th graders compete for glory in this year’s FULL VOLUME challenge. The event is completely free and open to the public, with food trucks on-site. Allie, Dr J, Elle, and Xavier will also be there. Allie and Dr J can show you the ropes and even start discussing ideas for the STEAMwhiz TEAMs this Fall 🤓 X & L will volunteer at the competition queuing up the teams and resetting the challenges. Feel free to join us for an hour or two between 9:30-11:30 am, 12:30-3 pm, or stay for the whole thing and see who wins! You can find the agenda and details here. Don’t miss out on this fun and educational opportunity. Send us a text at 518-512-9595 to let us know you’ll be there!

STEAMwhiz + VEX Robotics 💟

Many have heard about LEGO’s First Lego League (FLL) but have you heard of the VEX Robotics? Dr J will write an article on why we chose to begin with VEX Robotics in the coming weeks. In the mean time check out VEX Robotics and see what it’s all about 🥳 We plan to form teams this coming Fall. This will allow our local students to dig deep, work through challenging and technical problems, and develop academic GRIT!   

Spring break sci-Tech Camp

Candy CodeBots Unleashed

April 1-5| Mon. – Fri. | 9 AM – 12 PM 
Limited Space • 8:1 Student-Teacher Ratio • Intense Learning • Expert Instructors

Ages 8-13 yrs old

Join the STEAM-Team in this week-long (Mon-Fri) Sci-Tech Spring-Break Boot Camp as we continue to build up our programming and robotics acumen. Welcome to “Candy CodeBots Unleashed” — A tasty tech adventure for the NextGen of creative problem-solvers 8-13 yrs old, where young minds merge the worlds of robotics and coding to create the ultimate candy-delivering dream machines! Unlock the capabilities of this Lego-compatible robot as you explore programming, STEM,  and critical thinking.

Register Here

Registration open

Minecraft Sci-Tech Summer Camp

**Register Early & Save $100 for Full 6-week Session (AM or PM)**

All NEW Activities, Amazing Advanced Learning

Friendly FYI – Student Registration is up 160% & last year we had a waiting list. If you are interested, don’t delay. Plus you can still take advantage of our Early Bird Specials.

Full Day (Mon-Fri) 

Jul 1 – Aug 9th
AM at Tawasentha Park Rec Camp | PM at STEAMwhiz HQ
Bus ride provided in partnership with Guilderland Parks & Rec

Half Day (Mon-Fri)

Jul 1 – Aug 9th

AM Session 9AM – 12PM -OR- PM Session 1PM – 4PM

School’s Out Week

June 26th – 28th
AM Session 9AM – 12PM -OR- PM Session 1PM – 4PM
Choose One or All three days

6-8 year olds
9-13 year olds

In the community

Ask for STEAMwhiz in your School

We have engineered one-of-a-kind STEAMwhiz Mobile PC workstations! This allows us to bring the same advanced STEAM lab programs we run in our HQ to locations that are more accessible to many of our families & students.

PTAs & Schools

Join the growing list of Capital District Schools, Libraries, and Town Organizations that are partnering with STEAMwhiz Innovation Labs to bring high-tech, advanced STEAM labs to their students. 

IS YOUR SCHOOL/LIBRARY MISSING OUT?

Contact your local Parent Teacher Association + School Administrators. Let them know that you want STEAMwhiz at your school! Or reach out to your local library and let them know that you want STEAMwhiz to enrich your children’s education by exposing them to 21st-Century Tools, Skills, and Learning Objectives such as; Coding Fundamentals • Robotics • 3D Printing • The Engineering Design Process •  Analytical & Critical Thinking • Creative Problem Solving and more…

Thank you to parents, staff, administrators, and students for making it an amazingly positive success. A special thank you to the parents and staff who put in the extra energy and overcome barriers to make it happen. You are the difference makers😍 Your efforts will ripple through for current students and those behind them.  Together we are #BeingTheChangeWeWantTooSee in the🌎 

Contact the STEAM-Team
Girl Scouts + STEAMwhiz
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REGISTER TODAY

Stay in Sync with STEAMwhiz

Follow all STEAMwhiz’s latest news, educational articles, and more here.

Check out our monthly MakerLab and Events here.

Create An Account And Never Miss A Beat With Our In-Person STEM Programs Covering Coding, 3d Printing, Laser Cutting, Robotics, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math (STEAM) And So Much More.

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1st Day of 2025 🥳

STEAMwhiz HQ 1 Charles Blvd, Guilderland, NY, United States

Classes return to STEAMwhiz

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The Harmonious Integration: Why Music Finds Its Rightful Place in S.T.E.A.M Education

Why Music Finds Its Rightful Place in S.T.E.A.M Education

Integrating diverse disciplines is a pillar in becoming a creative problem-solver. One intriguing partnership that the STEAM-Team is excited to explore is the marriage of music and STEAM (Sci, Tech, Eng, Art, Math) education. This fusion might seem unlikely at first glance, but when explored, it reveals a symphony of benefits that resonate through both realms. 

Let’s check out the top (3) engaging and vibrant harmonies between music and STEAM education —

  • How Does Music Enrich the Cognitive Capacities of our Students?
  • How Does Music Connect to Science & Technology?
  • How Does Music Help Develop Key Skills that are Essential for STEM Fields?

1. Cognitive Orchestration

If you think music and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) are worlds apart, think again. Music is not only a form of art and expression, but also a powerful tool for enhancing cognitive skills that are essential for STEM learning. In this section, we will explore how music can help students master STEM subjects by:

– Improving pattern recognition

– Boosting creative problem-solving

– Strengthening memory skills

Let’s Dive In!

a. Pattern Recognition: The Key to Data and Equations

One of the core skills in STEM is the ability to recognize and analyze patterns in data, equations, graphs, and other forms of information. Music is full of patterns, from the notes and chords to the rhythm and harmony. Musicians learn to read, play, and compose music by identifying and manipulating these patterns. Research shows that musical training enhances pattern recognition skills in both auditory and visual domains, which can transfer to mathematical and scientific reasoning. For example, a study conducted by Dr. Gordon Shaw, Neurological Research, found that children who received piano lessons performed better than their peers in tasks involving fractions, ratios, and proportions.

b. Creative Problem-Solving: The Spark of Innovation

Another skill that STEM learners need is the ability to solve complex problems with creativity and innovation.

Music is a rich source of inspiration and imagination, as it allows students to express themselves in unique ways. Music also fosters divergent thinking, which is the ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem. Divergent thinking is crucial for STEM fields, where novel and unconventional approaches often lead to breakthroughs. For instance, a study found that engineering students who participated in musical activities scored higher on tests of divergent thinking than those who did not.

c. Memory Skills: The Foundation of Learning

A third skill that STEM learners benefit from is the ability to memorize and recall information effectively.

Music is a powerful memory enhancer, as it uses rhythm, melody, emotion, and repetition to encode information in the brain. Music can also help students remember complex formulas, equations, and concepts by associating them with musical cues. For example, a study found that students who learned physics concepts through songs performed better on tests than those who learned through traditional methods.

2. Sonic Science and Technological Innovation

Beneath the surface of every melody lies a world of acoustics, physics, and technology. Integrating music with STEM subjects offers students an immersive experience into the science of sound, sparking curiosity and innovation:

a. Exploring Sound Waves

Music is made of sound waves, which are vibrations that travel through the air or other mediums. By investigating the physics of sound waves and resonance, students gain an understanding of fundamental concepts such as frequency, amplitude, wavelength, and resonance, while creating musical instruments or analyzing acoustic phenomena.

b. Digital Harmonies

Music production and composition embrace cutting-edge technology.

Integrating digital tools introduces students to coding and software and empowers them to craft their sonic landscapes. You can also learn about digital audio formats, signal processing, synthesis, and sampling. Technology gives you the freedom and flexibility to express yourself musically in new ways.

c. Innovative Intersections

 The marriage of music and technology has given rise to groundbreaking inventions, from electronic instruments to sophisticated audio algorithms. By exploring these innovations, you can discover how music and technology solve problems, meet needs, and create opportunities. Students engaging with music in STEM contexts are primed to become the next generation of innovators.

3. STEM Jam Sessions: Collaboration and Communication

STEM industries thrive on collaboration and effective communication. Music, with its ensemble performances and harmonious dialogues, provides an excellent model for fostering these essential skills:

a. Team Dynamics

Playing in a musical ensemble, whether you join a band or an orchestra, mirrors the collaborative environment of STEM workplaces. Students learn to synchronize efforts, adapt to diverse perspectives, and collectively strive for excellence.

b. Communicative Precision

Music is a form of communication that can convey complex emotions and messages. When you play or write music, you practice being precise, clear, and concise with your words and sounds. These are the same skills you need to communicate your STEM findings and ideas to others. And just as musicians respond to subtle cues during performances, STEM learners refine their ability to convey complex ideas with precision, clarity, and conciseness.

c. Creative Synergy

Music is also a creative outlet that allows you to experiment with different styles, genres, and techniques. When you improvise or compose music, you learn how to think on your feet, adapt to changing situations, and solve problems creatively. These are the same skills that you need to innovate and discover new things in STEM fields.

TLDR 

The integration of music into STEM education is not merely a harmonious indulgence; it is a strategic investment in fostering well-rounded, adaptable, and innovative learners. By harnessing the cognitive, scientific, and collaborative potential of music, educators unlock doors to engagement and excitement in the STEM journey. The combination of melody and mathematics, rhythm and research, creates a symphony of holistic learning that resonates deeply with students, ensuring they step onto a path paved with endless possibilities.

So as you can see, music is more than just a hobby or a passion. It is also a cognitive orchestrator that can help students excel in STEM subjects. By integrating music into STEM education, we can enrich the cognitive capacities of our students and prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century. Music and STEM are not opposites; they are complementary parts of a harmonious whole.

Get Started

Need more music in your life and your children’s? A great place to start is online with Hoffman Academy. No, this is not a sponsored post. Just a great resource that our family has used to begin our children’s musical education. 

We love that there are 300+ comprehensive piano video lessons, totally free! Joseph Hoffman and his academy are on a mission to bring music into more homes and communities worldwide. They believe everyone should have access to music education. 

Our son, X, used the 100% free lessons for a year. Then once we saw the benefit and success of using Hoffman Academy, we upgraded him to the Premium account to have even more resources at his fingertips!

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We are here to support, mentor, and inspire!

– Allie out!

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Using New Tools to Teach Advanced Concepts – Minecraft Create!!

What is Minecraft & How Can it Teach 21st Century Skills?

Don’t let the blocky design fool you into thinking this game is basic!!  There are ‘deep layers‘ to Minecraft (pun intended for my Block Heads 🤣). For parents trying to figure out what Minecraft is and if it’s safe I understand! Answer: Yes, it is safe. I learned to play the game in order to figure that out myself. Now it’s an immersive family activity where we all can have fun together. It does have some exciting & maybe even scary characters for little ones like zombies and endermen. Word of caution, it does introduce the concept of ‘killing’ whether it’s to defend yourself from attack or via farming. There are weapons such as swords, bow & arrows, etc. but no guns. 

Minecraft is an open world in which you gather materials to eat, build, and create. The gameplay/mechanics can be as deep as you want them to be. In Creative Mode you have all the materials available to you so that you can just focus on creating without having to worry about being attacked by a mob or how to gather/’mine’ materials. In Survival Mode you must hunt and gather just like you would in the real world. I suggest you go chop down a tree to start ‘crafting’ items like a door and create a shelter to protect yourself from attacking mobs at night time 😬 There are some great resources online a simple google search will pull up to learn more. I also suggest checking out Youtube to see some of the amazing things done in Minecraft. 

Ok you may be asking, “Dr J how does this relate to learning?!?” To help answer this question, let’s dive into the Top 3 Questions on How STEAMwhiz Uses Minecraft as an Educational Tool!

  • How Can Minecraft be used to Teach Problem Solving?
  • How Does Minecraft Allow Students to Develop their Creativity?
  • What Modern Skills can our Students Learn from Minecraft?

How Minecraft can be used for Education

Investigating Automation
Minecraft creative expression
Eden PhysicalComputing

1. Problem Solving

The default game in Minecraft is called Survival Mode. It’s an open world where the main objective is to survive. You need to build shelter, figure out food to sustain yourself, and if you are crafty, you can figure out how to mine for diamonds and hunt the Ender Dragon. The are so many layers of problem-solving for example:  how do you build a house, create doors, can you farm animals, which animals are okay to eat, is it better to build near water or in a forest, where are the best places to mine, how can you craft new items? Players can test theories, ideas, try new things, and experience failure in a safe way and then repeat.

But what about “cheat” videos, where kids go on Youtube and learn how to do things on their own by copying what others post? Often kids won’t find exactly what they want so they research partial solutions and create entirely new solutions, awesome. This is not very different than finding solutions in the real world, whether they dive into a physics books, scientific research papers, or even a Youtube video. Kids will quickly learn about good and bad sources once they try to copy builds off Youtube.

 

 

2. Exercising the Creative Muscle

Minecraft is a true sand-box game. What does that mean? A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides the player a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or in other words, with a goal that the player sets for themself.

The first shelter I ever created was a hole in the side of a mountain to hide from mobs XD But that was a limitation of my imagination. Players have recreated beautiful works of art, medieval castles, the statue of liberty, and even entire cities…block-by-block. The possibilities are endless! Creative Mode is an excellent way to unleash this creativity, especially for younger children. All the resources are available to them, they don’t have to worry about being attacked, and they can fly in the air as they build. All they have to do is imagine what they want to build and develop some GRIT as they start to build block-by-block. They can even custom design their avatar to look like a ninja or supergirl.


Learning electrical circuits and logical gates in Minecraft. a) Shows the circuit diagram of a 4-input AND gate b) Is the circuit built in Minecraft using Redstone. The torch will only turn on if all 4 wood plates are being pressed down =D

An even deeper layer – let’s take it to the next level! Minecraft has a system of making machines. Redstone is a resource that you can mine deep in the earth and is the equivalent of copper wires and electricity. You can build complex machines to automate tasks that take forever to do manually. Students can learn about electricity flow, repeaters, logical gates,  and building cool machines all using Redstone. The outlets for self-expression are amazing!!   

3. Modern Skills Development

The benefits keep adding up! Minecraft helped my kids learn to read, apply math fundamentals, and develop critical computer skills early. The game also encourages kids to develop logical reasoning. For example, mastering Redstone requires rigorous logical thinking. It teaches the essentials of computer programming, including debugging circuits to find solutions. At STEAMwhiz we also use Minecraft to develop challenges that require teamwork which provides students with a safe environment in order to develop communication skills, conflict resolution, plan development, and leadership. All critical skills are needed in the real world. 

Furthermore, we take it to next level yet again by teaching students how to write code to HACK into the Minecraft world using the world’s most powerful coding languages like Python and Java. We really blow their minds when we bridge the physical world by connecting LEDs, buzzers, and buttons that they can code to bridge the Minecraft virtual world to the real physical world by making sounds, teleporting at the push of a button, or creating a diamond detector that lights up an LED when near a diamond resource! This area of study is known as Physical Computing and I have used it throughout my physics career; whether to look at individual atoms on a multi-million dollar Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) at Brookhaven National Lab or to probe the magnetic moment of elements at the billion-dollar Advance Light Source synchrotron at Lawrence Berkley National Lab. I learned these skills during college — What will these young innovators come up with when they are starting as early as 6 years old?!

Get Started

Our SciTech Summer Camp is a great place to begin. It is Minecraft centric and goes deep into STEM! 

Minecraft is available across most major platforms. We encourage you try it out for yourself. To download it and get started click here . This is a great starting tutorial for Survival Mode. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out and we will try to get you pointed in the right direction 😉

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Changing the Way Our Students Learn – 3D Printing

What is 3D Design and Fabrication?

Digital fabrication technology also referred to as 3D Printing or additive manufacturing, is a method of making a physical object from a three-dimensional model from a digital file or CAD model. It is ‘additive’ in that it doesn’t require a block of material or mold to manufacture physical objects, instead, the material is deposited, joined, or solidified under computer control, with material being added together, typically layer by layer. 

Sounds high-tech doesn’t it? But believe it or not, computer-aided additive manufacturing processes have been around for more than 30 years. However, the technology, now most commonly referred to as 3D Printing, is advancing rapidly, making its way to labs, schools, and even homes, reshaping manufacturing in the 21st century.

3D design and fabrication opens up inspiring possibilities and opportunities. Users from kids to adults can immediately hold, evaluate, test, and use their ideas, reshaping the fields of art, design, architecture, science, technology, and engineering by revolutionizing how things are made.

But you still might be asking:

  • Why bring 3D printing into the lab?
  • How can 3D Printing help my child learn problem-solving skills and develop critical thinking?
  • How will 3D Printing technology engage my child and help them in their future?

 To help answer those questions, let’s dive into the Top 3 Reasons STEAMwhiz Uses 3D Printing as an Educational Tool.

3D
Computer Aided Design
Minecraft 3D_blue

Top 3 Reasons for 3D Printing in the Lab

1. Put the “A” in S.T.E.A.M

The arts are vital for student success! 

3D Printers have emerged as powerful tools to introduce art in the lab, where students have the freedom to create, innovate, and solve. Through the use of 3D design and fabrication, our lab participants, your students, will engage themselves in the full design process from start to finish. Using computer-aided design (CAD) software, lab participants will design 3D objects using elements of art, math, and engineering and then create physical representations of that object using one of our several printers.

By designing 3D objects using CAD software, students can better understand how 3D shapes fit and work together to create 3D models based on their imagination, as well as scientific and mathematical principles. Being able to understand how 3D shapes work and fit together can also result in an improvement in spatial intelligence, an overlooked indicator of future student success, and a vital part of learning development, according to a recent study by Vanderbilt University.

2. Growth Mindset – Learn from Failure

In a traditional classroom, student success is normally measured by a passing or failing grade on a test. While there are many flaws in this approach, this approach mainly ignores the lessons that can be learned from failure. The lessons we learn from failure are just as important as the lessons we learn from success, or even more important. Failure develops resiliency, and being able to learn from our mistakes is a vital skill that we want to support in our students – not only as a character trait but also as a skill set for their future.

3D design and fabrication have been proven to be great tools for facilitating learning through failure. As students undergo the design process of analyzing, modifying, and testing their design multiple times before they are successful. If a print ends up failing, students will be able to go back to analyze and modify their design until they are successful. Even Yoda said, “The greatest teacher, failure is.”

3. Real-World Problem Solving

Giving our students dynamic experiences can instill the passion for ‘thinking & doing’ and plant seeds for the future.

Not only does the 3D printing process from design to fabrication make subject matter and technical subjects more engaging but also ignites students’ curiosity and interest in STEM fields – this is especially valuable when applied at an early age. This is why we have created a lab program specifically designed for our littlest ‘thinkers & doers’ from 5.5 to 7 years old.

One of the biggest benefits of 3D printing is its ability to facilitate real-world problem-solving in the lab. Whether it’s accelerating the innovation process so students can experience the entire product design process from A to Z or innovating actual designs to solve current real-world problems from assistive technology to 3D printed coral, to large structures such as bridges, houses, and even boats.

3D Printing has the power to change the way students learn! But make no mistake – leveraging educational technology isn’t as simple as having the latest and greatest technology in the lab – it’s about effectively integrating that technology into the curriculum in a way that engages, supports, and inspires all learners and that’s what we do here at STEAMwhiz  – CREATE + INNOVATE + SOLVE!

Get Started and Jump In

Getting started is easy thanks to great free tools specifically designed for kids! We highly recommend TinkerCAD as a great entry point into to start thinking and designing in 3 dimensions. Even better you can take these creations and send them to us to 3D print for you =D 
 
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STEAMwhiz, Physical Computing, & Raspberry Pi’s, Oh My!!

STEAMwhiz

We are gearing up to reach more early education students across the good ol’ US of A in the latter half of 2022 (stay tuned). Our mission is to empower more students with the knowledge to become innovative problem solvers that will prepare them for their future, not our past. Our Co-founder and Program Director Allie and I have worked at all levels of the nation’s education system, from public school teachers to curriculum developers at National Laboratories to doing fundamental research at the highest levels of science in America to working at Fortune 100 companies! We are creating both in-person labs and digital courses (coming Fall/Winter 2022) to pass this knowledge on to the up and coming generations. This means that we are not developing one-off projects but a deep curriculum for students rooted in (S)cience (T)ech (E)ngineering (A)rt (M)ath to provide the fundamental and technical acumen to become the innovative problem solvers of tomorrow. You might ask why STEAM? Well, we believe that these fields have a bright future that will not only provide excellent careers for young students but allow them to be creative in amazing ways and exploits their natural curiosity about the world around them. By tapping into their potential, as early as 6 years old, we believe they will be able to find solutions to the novel and difficult problems they will face in the future!

Physical Computing

An amazing development in the last decade or so is the accessibility of Physical Computing for young students! What is physical computing and why is it important? Well we know computing is related to computers right 😋 let’s give it a bit more of a formal definition

COMPUTING is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery.

Wikipeda

In other words, it’s the use of a computer to accomplish some goal or task. This typically resides inside of the computer in the virtual world. Some examples are creating a scientific model to predict the weather or writing a blog post like this one 😄

Now we add the word PHYSICAL to the term COMPUTING and we move out of the virtual-only world and interact with the physical ‘real’ world as well.

PHYSICAL COMPUTING involves interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them.

Wikipedia

Sometimes it’s easier to see than to read, so below are some fun examples from MIT Maker Resources for K-12 Educators.

This is basically at the heart of all our technology; bridging the human physical world with the virtual technological one! Now imagine the amazing creativity and ingenuity that the next generation of students can explore with these tools at their disposal, if we transform the when, what, and how we teach them!

Raspberry Pi’s

The GP (i.e. General Purpose) are the PINs used for physical Computing

Ok, so how does the Raspberry Pi fit into all of this? The Raspberry Pi is an amazingly powerful, little single-board computer that is relatively inexpensive for students to explore Physical Computing. What makes it different than any other computer? While it is a ‘normal’ computer that can be used to browse the internet, write a document, and code a program, it also has an amazing suite of programs geared for kids to explore computing! Moreover, it has special PINs called General Purpose Input Output PINs (aka GPIO PINs) that allow the Raspberry Pi to connect to sensors, lights, motors, actuators, buzzers, pumps, and so much more. It bridges the physical world into the virtual one like the videos above!

STEAMwhiz Pi

One challenge of the Raspberry Pi is that there is a barrier to entry that requires a certain level of technical understanding to really unlock its power. So what we have done at STEAMwhiz is create a wonderful plug and play solution for parents and students, which we call the STEAMwhiz Pi 😅

The STEAMwhiz Pi (pictured above) is basically an exact clone of what we use in our in-person labs, with a touch screen and the exact software configuration we use to teach our students throughout the academic year! This allows for our students to continue working & innovating at home well after they leave the lab. Bonus they can use it for their school work too, as it’s a full-blown desktop computer!

Isaac putting in the work at home and doing physical computing after lab!

Where is this all going? Well, while there are great tutorials online and fun project boxes, most are not really targeting early education & holistic curriculum development. So it is possible for some very driven students to learn, but it’s mostly geared toward an older audience through standalone disconnected projects. In Q3 & Q4 of 2022, we will begin the rollout of our STEAMwhiz app to deliver STEAM courses specifically targeting early education which will be a full-blown curriculum to provide our decades of experience to students across the country in a fun animated storybook fashion. The STEAMwhiz Pi is the first step so parents can just plug and play a system for their children to begin exploring the world of physical computing! You can learn more about the STEAMwhiz Pi here.

Getting Started in Physical Computing

In the meantime, while we roll out our STEAMwhiz app, we encourage our students and parents to check out the links below to get started in the world of physical computing and get those inquisitive minds working! Feel free to reach out if you have questions or comments and we will be happy to engage.

Python & Physical Computing

A nice tutorial to get started with Physical Computing and Python!
https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/physical-computing/0

This tutorial introduces some basic electronic components and how to use a great coding language called Python to control LEDS, buzzers, and more! Python is ubiquitous in research and industry throughout the world and is an excellent first coding language to start out with.

Scratch & Physical Computing

A nice tutorial to get started with Scratch and Physical Computing
https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/physical-computing-with-scratch

The tutorial above introduces physical computing using a drag and drop visual block coding language known as Scratch. If you are unfamiliar you can read more about it in our other post here. We recommend this for students who can read and write but are just starting to dip their toes into coding.

Once you have gone through the tutorials above you can check out more here fun projects from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

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We love our MOMs!

Come to the lab and have your kids create, learn, and give mom a gift that keeps giving! Together with the STEAM-TEAM, they will use the laser engraver and illustrator software to create Mom a customized flower box for Mother’s day.

They will pick the seeds of their choice, from flowers to herbs, add soil and plant them. Just show up and we will do the rest!

Here is a great piece on the Makerlab event by our local WTEN news =)

https://www.news10.com/top-stories/steamwhiz-helps-kids-build-a-fun-and-scientific-gift-for-mothers-day/